A son in his 40s who neglected his mother, who suffered from a brain disease and had difficulty moving, for more than a year, leading to death, was sentenced to a suspended sentence in prison at the appeals court.
Today (10th), the 3rd Criminal Division of the Daejeon High Court (presiding judge Jeong Jae-oh) sentenced Mr. A (40), who was charged with dereliction of death, to 3 years in prison and 4 years probation, the same as the lower court.
He was also ordered to do 200 hours of community service.
Mr. A was put on trial on charges of neglecting his mother, Mr. B, who was bedridden due to a brain disease, leaving him alone at home almost every day for a year from May 7, 2020, and leaving him to die.
Mr. B, who could not even go to the bathroom alone, had no choice but to toilet in his clothes, but Mr. A did not wash properly, and in particular, it was revealed that he only gave milk for every meal a month before his death.
In the end, Mr. B died of pneumonia in a state of malnutrition, but at the time, he weighed only 30 kg.
The first trial judge said, "The act of abandoning the parents by the child is very heavy in guilt in view of its immorality." We took into account the fact that we tried to come up with our own measures, such as visiting and consulting."
In response, the prosecution appealed, saying that the sentence was too light, but the second trial judge also said, "Considering the fact that I have lived with the victim for 7 years and have made efforts to take my mother to a nursing hospital, it is difficult to see that the sentence of the lower court is beyond the reasonable range of discretion."